how to make a gallery wall on a budget.

3 months ago we moved into our little place and it’s been a whirlwind getting it together. Our last apartment was quite the junker {to put it kindly}, so we completely started from scratch. On my decorating adventures I’ve learned two key things:
1. Putting things together is hard.
2. Decorating a place is freaking expensive!
#2 was something I wasn’t mentally prepared for whatsoever. I lived in a world of dorm room furniture, Ikea gems & whatever extra my parents had around the house. Luckily I found a few things to skimp on – the best result being my living room gallery wall. 
To start by gallery wall adventure, I scoured Pinterest for waaaaay too long to find a few prints I loved. We grabbed the Stop and Smell the Roses, Peonies, and Little Thing Called Love print from Society 6 {after finding them first on Pinterest} – which ended up being around $55. After realizing that this gallery wall would end up costing much more than anticipated if I continued down this route,  I decided to stop by our local card store to see what other options they had  and voilla! Problem solved! 
 I replaced the idea of buying more expensive prints with tons of smaller cards. I even found a few cards that mimicked prints I had wanted to buy anyway. To keep the look consistent, I picked up some dirt cheap frames from Target in a variety of sizes. Even though the cards didn’t fit the frames perfectly, I cut them down and popped them on a white background to make it look like they were made for it. 
To keep it interesting, I added this gold antlered plaster deer head via Etsy {a cheaper version of the popular West Elm one I had been eyeing up for awhile}. It gives the wall some personality and ties together the other gold accents I’ve got going on around the room {look, I did end up accomplishing #1 & #2 after all!}
Once I get the rest of my place in order, I’ll hopefully have a few more snaps to share! Have you ever made a gallery wall without breaking the bank? 
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16 thoughts on “how to make a gallery wall on a budget.

  1. Alissa

    Ugh.Stop being so perfect. I had this great idea for a gallery wall in my apartment and then realized we are moving in like 3 months so the wall is staying ugly and bland.

  2. Jessica

    I love all of the prints you picked out! It looks great πŸ™‚ I'm with Alissa, I'm getting ready to move soon and my walls look terrible. I can't wait to decorate a new place. Just out of curiosity, where did you find your frames? I picked some up at Walmart, but I wasn't able to find anything smaller than the 11×14

  3. Alyssa

    Love, love, LOVE it Maya! I think my white/gold moose and your white/gold deer need to be friends πŸ˜‰ I can't wait to see the rest of your place!

  4. Rachel Lynne

    OMG it looks amazing Maya! And I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH YOU on it being hard to put things together and doing it on a budget! I think we are going to do a gallery wall above our bar cart, so this is great inspiration! Will you just come visit me in Minneapolis and help me out?! I just suck at this stuff all around haha!

  5. Alison Dulaney

    I cannot wait to see what your new home looks like! The instagram photo is so pretty:) Love these tips, ikea is my go to source and vintage stores for inexpensive finds:)

  6. Lorraine Anne Davis

    check out vernacular photos (goofy snap shots) you can buy at flea markets – sometimes you can theme them and they are really cheap! One man collected only old snap shots where the shadow of the photographer was in the picture. He put a really nice collection together and donated it to MoMA – and they hung it!!! – Or you can buy color photos and cut them up and make mosaics out of them.

  7. Amanda

    Love it!! The prints you found are so cute. I went to the thrift store and found album covers for $1 and used them in my gallery wall!

    hammerandheels.blogspot.com

  8. lauren @ LPF

    Your gallery wall is looking SO pretty lady!! I hope you are down to do a home tour for LPF Mag when it's all together πŸ™‚ also, totally showing kyle your deer head. We have one we're going to spray paint DIY and I keep attempting to convince him to add some metallic gold to the antlers!

  9. Aimee P

    OMG so gorgeous! πŸ™‚ I have so many ideas for a gallery wall when I move into my next place.
    Happy Monday,
    xoxo Aimee
    Bows&Beau-ties
    ps. Bows&Beau-ties 1st Birthday giveaway is going on now!

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